


To Build a Home

by Inkaalhun



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dumb Gay Bitch Brain strikes again, F/F, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mental Health Issues, Past Child Abuse, Shapeshifter, Trans Bow (She-Ra), Trans Perfuma (She-Ra), how does one do tags?, it's a mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:53:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27562585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkaalhun/pseuds/Inkaalhun
Summary: Adora inherits a decrepit home full of regrets and bad memories. As part of her grieving and healing process, she decides she wants to rebuild it. Unbeknownst to her though, someone has been using the old house as a safe space. A space away from her dangerous mother, a space where she cannot be a danger to anyone.Shenanigans ensues.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 173





	1. Sweat and Memories

**Author's Note:**

> I usually don't write fanfics as I prefer to write OCs, but the story I had in mind was basically a Catradora fic already, so I figured I might as well make it official. I have a vague idea where this will go, but we'll see about that when we'll get there.

She took a deep breath as she turned the door handle. _I can do this,_ she told herself. It was her third attempt to enter. For the first time, she was happy the house was so remote, at least no-one could see her struggling. All had gone well up to that point, she’d driven all the way from Brightmoon down to Crystal Lane without needing a break. She’d passed the fence and unlocked the door as determined and stubborn as ever. She’d opened the door, just enough to see the hallway inside, and then slammed it shut again. Hands shaking, heart beating in her throat, she’d sat down on the porch and stayed there for a full five minutes.

The second attempt had gone even worse. The panic had struck her before she even managed to open the door. It made her feel pathetic. Worse, it made her feel like she was disrespecting Mara’s memory. Her guilt eventually won over her panic, and she managed to enter the house.

She didn’t spend long in there. The place had always been descript, but somehow it had fallen into further disrepair since Adora had last set foot inside. There was water damage from a leak in the living room, several windows were smashed and most of the furniture was rotting in one way or another. There was probably more, but nothing else stood out as Adora quickly made her way through the first floor. The kitchen still seemed alright, though some small rodents had obviously made themselves at home in there. Adora didn’t begrudge them, at least someone enjoyed the place.

It surprised her how emotionless she regarded everything. She’d expected to be overwhelmed by memories. Not just bad memories, though they made up the majority. Instead, she barely recognised the place. She knew Mara had come back to Crystal Lane once some years ago and had made sure all items of emotional value to them were secured, but all that had barely filled two boxes. Maybe people had come in and stole the rest, it would explain the broken windows, or maybe some animals had scavenged the place. It didn’t really matter in the end, Adora wasn’t even sure she would have wanted any of that.

She only spent a short time upstairs. She figured the water damage in the living room came from the bedroom directly above it. Both the roof and windows were busted and the place was still wet from last week’s storm. The bathroom and guestroom were in somewhat of a better state, but she was in no way prepared for the sight of her old room.

For one, it was a complete mess. She was pretty sure that even as a kid it had never been _that_ messy. Old blankets were piled on her bed. Clothes she hadn’t seen in years had been dumped in a corner and had seemingly been used as a nest of sorts, considering the amount of cat hair on it. The remains of old drawings and schoolwork were scattered all over the place. The most remarkable though, was that her desk was completely tidy with art supplies she’d never seen sorted neatly by colour and appliance. The drawers were empty though, and there was no sketchbook or canvas in sight.

 _Good that the old place has seen some use then, probably some hermit and their cat,_ Adora thought with a shrug. She didn’t really want to think about the implications of someone else living in the house she was supposed to make liveable again. For now, it was good enough that she’d taken the first step and actually entered the damned place.

She decided not to lock the door when she left. Clearly, it didn’t stop anyone from entering, so she might as well not bother. She checked her phone as she stepped outside.

 **Bow x:** Hey Adora let us know how it’s going <3

 **Glimmer <3: **We’re here to support you!

 **Bow x:** You better remember that!

 **Glimmer <3: **Is that a threat? From _you?_

 **Adora:** I’m good. Making my way back to BM, do you need me to pick something up for tonight?

 **Glimmer <3**: Mum asked if we wanted to come for dinner. You feeling up for that?

Adora hesitated. Angella and Micah already did so much for her, she really didn’t want to take more advantage of them. But she’d also declined the past… well, several times in any case. Neither Glimmer nor Bow had said anything about it, but she knew her constant refusals disappointed Angella. _I end up a burden either way._

 **Adora:** Only if she really doesn’t mind

 **Glimmer <3: **Of course she doesn’t!

 **Adora:** Okay okay. I’ll try and be home by 4, I’m going to spend some time at the gym until then

She put her phone in her bag and started driving before she heard any more notifications. She knew Bow was going to want to talk to her about her feelings, but she really didn’t want to do that. Right now she just wanted to punch out her feelings more than anything else. She was aware they had some stupid assignment coming up for uni and a part of her was building up a lot of stress about it, but she had decided to take some time for herself to let her process her emotions. It was still difficult to tune out Hope’s voice though, especially as she drove away from the Crystal Lane. _“Focus Adora, you must not be compromised. Your future depends on it.”_ Adora heard the lecture like Hope was sitting right next to her, as unrelenting as ever.

“Me time, I’m taking me time,” she said through gritted teeth as she turned on a random song from one of her playlists. She couldn’t suppress a chuckle when she realised it was her Gay Yearning list as Florence Welch’s voice came through her stereo. Not exactly the vibe she was going for, but it worked. There were a couple she skipped as they were a little too on the nose, but it did make her feel better. She almost felt like a person again when she pulled up to the gym and was ready to kick some ass.

Her usual sparring partner, Huntara, wasn’t in today, but she was familiar with most of the trainers and the regulars so she figured it wouldn’t take super long to track someone down. She quickly changed and made her way to the fighting ring, just in time to see Lonnie beat both her boyfriends’ asses. Adora was pretty sure neither Rogelio nor Kyle had much of a taste for martial arts, but they liked keeping Lonnie entertained, so who was she to judge?

“Slow day huh,” she said by way of greeting. “Even Seahawk doesn’t get ruffed up that badly by Mermista, and he actually deserves it." She sent Kyle and Rogelio a sympathetic look.

“Oh yeah, Grey?” Lonnie said with a smirk. “I think they like it that way.”

“Maybe, but how about a real challenge? I think Frosta could beat Kyle.” Which was probably true, but she was a vicious kid. Reminded her of Glimmer at that age.

“Alright Grey, let’s see if you haven’t gotten soft then.”

Lonnie was a formidable opponent, but she was half the size of Huntara and shorter than Adora by a good bit. Their session didn’t last very long, so they did short sets of them. Adora generally preferred longer fights as she had the stamina to keep going, but today she decided to go along with Lonnie’s aggression. She wasn’t sure if punching people was the best coping mechanism, but in the gym it at least happened in a controlled environment. And hey, it was at the very least an improvement from the drunken barfights she’d gotten into before. That hadn’t been her worst coping mechanism either, but it had been the most visible. Being able to heal herself had some clear advantages.

Not that she would use those in a sparring match.

After her fifth win, Lonnie backed off. “Fuck Grey, okay, you haven’t gone soft. Maybe someone else would like to take over,” she said, letting her eyes wander over the group of onlookers they’d attracted.

***

Catra didn’t like going to the gym much. Too many people, most of them pushovers, it was exhausting. But Scorpia had managed to land a job as a trainer at the Crimson Waste and Catra did owe her big time and didn’t want her to feel alone on her first day. The place was known to have a good fighting ring and to be queer-friendly, which had certainly helped in convincing her. Still, if but a single man decided to ogle her, dude was going to lose an eye.

Luckily for her, she found she didn’t have to worry about that. Everyone she and Scorpia passed was queer or trans, or both, and she immediately got the feeling that people actually respected boundaries here. There were both mixed and separate changing rooms and bathrooms, the music that was playing was upbeat but not too preppy and people appeared to be taking their shit serious. The only people who were being ogled at were clearly making a show of it. One buff person was even recording their squats. Catra had a feeling where that might be posted.

“Well, Wildcat! What do you think!” Scorpia said with the most ridiculous puppy eyes she could muster. Catra had long ago given up on fighting her over that nickname.

“Shit Scorpia you weren’t kidding about this place.”

“So you like it?” Her excitement was palpable.

Catra just chuckled and patted her on the shoulder. She usually didn’t like physical contact too much, but Scorpia appreciated it, so she was making an effort.

“What’s going on there?” she asked, gesturing at the sparring area. People had started crowding around it and, from the sounds of it, there was quite a fight going on. As they moved closer, she recognised Kyle and Rogelio cheering Lonnie on in the ring. Lonnie had always been a bad bitch in their foster home, so it was more than a little shocking to see her eating shit. Catra didn’t recognise her opponent. They were wearing pretty plain grey shorts and a matching tank top, blond hair in a ponytail. Catra would call them plain, if not for the tenacity in their eyes and their incredibly fit body. There was a moment when the stranger landed a finishing blow and Lonnie tapped out when Catra felt a little jealous of her. She decided not to unpack wanting to get punched by a hot stranger though.

Lonnie mumbled something she couldn’t hear from the sideline, but then she turned to the crowd. “Maybe someone would like to take over?” She looked surprised when she saw Catra, and gave her a little knowing smirk, but Catra wasn’t really in the mood to do any fighting now. So, she gave Scorpia a little push.

“Oh hey Scorp,” they said in surprise. _Of course Scorpia knows them._ “Great to see you got the job!” They said in much too happy a tone for someone who just beat Lonnie and was about to ruffle with Scorpia. They exchanged some more pleasantries as the stranger drank some water and Scorpia did some stretching.

“Well, well. I’d say look what the cat dragged in, but clearly the cat got dragged here,” Lonnie said, clearly thinking herself very clever. As kids, they had often given each other hell, but since they had all moved on from Weaver’s little den of misfits they had gotten on friendlier terms. 

“I was told people got their asses kicked here. If I had known that included yours I would have come sooner,” she said, getting a chuckle from Kyle as a reward. “Who’s the jock anyway?”

“Catra, most folk here are jocks. That’s Adora though, Adora Grey. Thought you’d know her, y’all have similar friends,” she said as Rogelio handed her some water. _Adora huh, well the name fits._

“We do?” She didn’t have much of a friend circle beyond Entrapta and Scorpia. She wasn’t sure if she could include Perfuma, Scorpia’s girlfriend, in that, but still. That meant two people, three tops.

“Yeah she hangs with Perfuma and her weirdos,” Lonnie said. _Ah well, there you go._

Scorpia lasted longer than Lonnie had, but Adora still beat her. Even though she was smaller and probably tired from her match with Lonnie, she still won. The competitive part of her wondered if she could succeed where Scorpia and Lonnie had failed, but Catra knew there was a distinct possibility she’d just embarrass herself with a case of dumb gay bitch brain. Besides, around this part of the month, it was best to keep her anger and excitement as lowkey as possible. So for now, she just watched and made a mental note to keep an eye out for her.

 _Adora Grey…_ There was something familiar about her, something she couldn’t quite place. _This is going to fucking bug me._


	2. Night Before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mostly just further set up. Maybe should have been a part of the first chapter, but hey, we got Werecat Catra, so all is well in the world.

Fighting Scorpia and Lonnie had done her some good. Her muscles were comfortably sore and she felt like she’d managed to work through some energy and feelings. She felt a lot better about dinner with Angella and Micah now and even felt somewhat invigorated to work on the house. She expected they would bring it up again, but she had made her decision. This was her task, and she wasn’t going to accept any help.

She was hymning softly to herself as she got home. She’d never admit it, but beating Scorpia had filled her with a sense of pride, even though there was now a none-zero chance Perfuma might kill her for fighting with her girlfriend. Who knew hippie girls like her could be so intense.

“Adora? That you?” Glimmer called from the bathroom. “We’re going to have to pick up Bow on the way, one of his students was having some issues, something about a bully? We’re expected around six anyway, so we should have plenty of time,” she said, chattering away while Adora put her sports bag in her room. She was going to do her laundry tomorrow, so it could wait for now.

“Where are we going anyway?” Adora asked as she started considering what to wear.

Glimmer poked her head through the door. “Mum wanted to go to Salineas again.” She stepped in and started considering Adora’s wardrobe with her and started putting together an outfit for her as Adora hopelessly watched on. “Lesbians,” Glimmer muttered under her breath as she considered three similar flannel shirts. She settled on a darker blue one and grabbed a white turtleneck to go along with it.

Adora just smiled. “Thanks Glimmer. Anything else planned for later?”

“Mermista mentioned she wanted to go to DT’s later. If you feel up for it we could carpool with her, I think she’s working tonight anyway,” she said as she started messing with her hair in Adora’s mirror. She never teleported when she drank, said it messed with her coordination too much, but since Bow didn’t drink that often anyway it usually worked out.

“Sounds good, I could use a drink.”

Glimmer looked up at her with a careful smile. “Yeah? How was the house?”

Adora shrugged. “The front side is alright, but storms and stuff really messed up the back. I wasn’t in there for super long but it looks like the roof and floor both need fixing. Kitchen seemed alright though, but I forgot to check whether the water still ran.” She briefly considered telling her it looked like someone had lived in her old room for a while, but knowing Glimmer, she might just freak out and refuse to let her go on her own. “Plenty of work, but hey that’s the point you know.”

Glimmer disagreed, her entire body language screamed it and she made no attempt to hide it, but she still pulled her in for a hug. “Okay, if this really is what you want.” Her voice trailed off, but Adora knew what she left unsaid, that she could always change her mind and ask for their help. They both knew that wouldn’t happen, Adora refused to burden them any further, but she did appreciate the thought.

“Thank you,” she whispered into her hair. Despite their disagreement, Glimmer and Bow had respected her choice to work on this on her own. They didn’t understand it, they didn’t like it, but they had respected it. It was more than she could really ask for.

“Okay now go and take a shower oh my god,” Glimmer exclaimed. “You smell like something died in your clothes! Make sure you’re ready to go in an hour!” She then teleported away in a blaze of sparkles, leaving Adora to sheepishly gather her clothes and consider whether she had time to run a quick wash or not.

***

“Damn she got you good didn’t she,” Catra cackled when Scorpia finally emerged from the showers. “Girl didn’t fuck around did she.”

“Oh yeah Adora is great,” Scorpia said with the excitement of someone who didn’t just get her ass kicked. “She also goes to BMU! Weird that you’ve never seen her.”

Catra shrugged. She had tried her best to place the girl, she had seemed familiar after all. She’d looked her up on her socials and Lonnie had been right, she was all over town in adjacent friend groups and activities. Catra had no clue though. “You know I stick to small groups.”

“Right yes, solitary and all that, I know! Still, usually you have an eye for people.”

Catra didn’t know what else to say on the matter, so she dropped the conversation. She sort of dozed off as Scorpia went off on another rant while they checked out of the gym and went to her car. She’d just nestled into the passenger’s seat when she noticed Scorpia had stopped talking and was looking expectedly at her.

“Ehm, sorry what was that?” Catra asked. She had just enough humility to feel embarrassed that Scorpia caught her not listening.

“Perfuma asks if you want to join us at DT’s tonight! Couple of her friends are going,” Scorpia said, either uncaring or oblivious to Catra’s embarrassment.

“Oh, eh I don’t know Scorpia. I know DT makes sure their patrons are chill but I still don’t really want to be drinking or be around too many people now. I was thinking about going to the old place in the woods again, just today and tomorrow.” She knew transformations weren’t super rare- compared to what she thought as a child,- but she still didn’t like people knowing. The idea of people talking about her or worse, her hurting anyone if she lost control somehow just made her sick to her stomach.

“Okay Wildcat, don’t worry about it! Do you need me to bring you anything or drop you off?”

Catra didn’t want to rely on anyone with this, especially since the shitty old house was something of a safe space for her and she didn’t like other people around there. She also knew Scorpia only wanted to help her and that she appreciated feeling useful (which she was, regardless of this). Plus, the weather was going to be shit and she didn’t want to leave her motorbike out in the forest there. So she sighed and gave the tiniest of nods. “If you could drive me over after dinner…” her voice trailed off.

“Of course,” Scorpia said with another bright smile. To make herself feel at least a little better about it all, Catra decided she’d go ahead and make dinner. _It’s all about tricking your brain, I should be great at that._

***

Bow climbed in the backseat with various groans and apologies. The bag he was carrying with him barely closed and he looked a bit uncomfortable without his usual croptop, but he gave them both a broad smile when he was finally seated anyway. “Sorry for being so late! One of my kids came into the office just sobbing and Spineralla wasn’t there anymore,” he said, apologising for maybe the third time. He was doing an internship with the counsellors at Bright Moon High, and though he was stoked about helping the kids there, he’d been swarmed with work ever since he’d started.

Turns out kids had problems, who knew.

“Don’t worry, mum and dad can be patient for ten minutes! They know I’m driving so expectations can’t be too high,” Glimmer said, grinning at Adora. She just sighed.

“Would it kill you to ever be punctual?” she pouted. Unlike Glimmer, she liked to have a sense of order in her schedule.

“Yes, brutally,” Glimmer said, not missing a beat. _Honestly._ Though Adora did suppose it was true that if you can just teleport everywhere from a young age, departure times probably didn’t really come up as much. Still annoyed her though.

“Whatever. Here Bow,” Adora said as she threw him another shirt, one that was actually cropped.

“Ahwww thank you!” he squealed in response and quickly changed into it. He immediately looked more confident. “Much better! So, I figured Glimmer already interrogated you buuuut,” he leaned his head forward on his hands and looked at her with the biggest puppy eyes imaginable, “how did it go at the house?”

Despite herself, she smiled. “It wasn’t too bad, Bow. I struggled a bit when I first got there and when I left but the place itself just looks old and forgotten. I wasn’t in there super long but I feel like this is a good idea.”

Bow and Glimmer shared a look for a brief moment, doing their weird non-verbal communication that Adora could never decipher. “I’m happy you feel good about your choice!” He said with a kind of finality. Right on cue as well, as Glimmer just pulled up to the parking lot of Salineas.

Adora wasn’t the biggest fan of seafood necessarily, but she still liked Salineas. It was quite a popular place run by Mermista’s parents. As long as Seahawk didn’t spend the entire time you were there singing shanties and didn’t set anything on fire, most nights tended to be pretty chill. Plus, as they’d learned first hand from Mermista and her parties, the rum was really good.

“Hey welcome to S- oh hey you guys,” Mermista said in her usual monotone voice. “You may want to hurry, your dad encouraged Seahawk so they are going to start singing together and that’s like, so not my problem,” she pointed at a space behind her where Micah and Seahawk were standing around a table looking eager while Angella sat behind them massaging her temples.

“Shit, thanks Merms,” Glimmer cursed, teleporting over immediately.

“I get off around nine, are you guys okay to wait?” she asked, more to Bow than Adora since he’d be driving.

Bow just gave her an ever excited thumbs up. “Of course!”

***

Neither Catra nor Scorpia really said anything as they drove through the quiet forest lane. She was feeling fine really, but she’d been startled by the loud honking of a car and her claws had popped out. Not that she was ashamed by Scorpia seeing them, but she’d travelled to the old house so often (usually half transformed like now) and it just reminded her of things she’d rather forget. Hiding from Shadow Weaver had been the biggest thing back then, and the house had given her a space to do that and just be herself, just exist.

She hated hiding though, it made her feel like a coward. But, the place also held a certain comfort to her, shitty as it was. Something about it just felt protective. Not for the first time she wondered who had abandoned it, and why, but in the five years she’d come here nearly every month, there had never been a sign of anyone besides herself. She’d witnessed the place slowly fall into ruin, especially after the autumn storms.

The smaller room she preferred to spend time in luckily hadn’t suffered much beyond her own messiness. It had more personality than the other rooms. She figured whoever left it had been in a bit of a hurry to leave. It had been great for Catra, meant she could climb on a pile of old clothes and take anything she liked. As a cat, she somehow preferred it to the perfectly fine bed right next to it. _But sure, you do you Cat brain._

She never brought much for such nights. Just a sketchbook, a lamp and a portable charger for her phone. She never brought the latter in the past, but Entrapta got her this one and had heavily implied it made both her and Scorpia feel better to know she could reach someone if it were necessary. The fact that Entrapta of all people had been firm with her on that had done more to convince her than any argument she made. Since then, she’d made sure her phone was always charged, just in case.

She said goodbye to Scorpia at the old garden fence and climbed over with little effort. She knew the gate was open, but a part of her just enjoyed climbing. The front door had always been locked, but she know that the windows on the back were wrecked -only some by her- so she always had a way in.

It embarrassed her, but she felt a wave a relief wash over her after she climbed into the living room and considered the ruined house around her. Pathetically, this had been more of a childhood home to her than her actual childhood home had been. She was happy with her new place and roommates, they were the primary reason she got rid of Shadow Weaver for one, but this rundown old shack still meant a lot to her.

Catra took a deep breath and allowed her transformation to continue. Fur, feline ears and a tail all emerged from her body. The difference was that she was in complete control now, and was able to do it all at her own pace. It didn’t hurt that way, it didn’t drive her into some predatory state, she could just slowly embrace the other side of her.

As her senses increased she noticed something odd. The house had always had a distinct smell to it, one that had never really dissipated over the years. It tended to linger the heaviest in the room she spent most of her time in, and she’d always found it to be a comforting scent. Today, however, it was a lot more pronounced. It was sort of disorientating, to have her senses expand in such a manner while realising incredibly specific changes in familiar space like this. She went on a quick investigation to see if she should maybe be concerned, but nothing really stood out to her. The house’s scent was the strongest in the cosy bedroom upstairs, but Catra couldn’t really figure out whether that was significant in any way.

Regardless, the scent maybe her incredibly drowsy. It was like she was finally protected well enough for her to relax. And as such, her body demanded rest. Without giving it much extra thought, Catra curled up in the bed for once, among the various blankets. Sleep came to her a lot easier and a lot quicker than it normally did that night.

***

Dinner with Angella and Micah had been fine. No, it had even been good. Like Glimmer and Bow before them, they’d expressed some doubts about Adora going out and fixing her childhood home while she was still following her ordinary university classes was maybe a bit much. They’d meant it well, so Adora had patiently explained why she thought fixing the place would be such an important thing for her, and why it couldn’t wait. They didn’t like it any more than Glimmer and Bow did, but luckily they also respected her choice.

They were in a bit of a weird spot together. On the one hand, they had taken care of her- even loved her- after Mara and Hope had passed away. On the other, Adora had already been seventeen when Mara died. She’d already mostly been her own person, she mostly just required the financial aid. They had been none too glad to offer it, but Adora couldn’t help but feel guilty about it. Especially when they also insisted they pay for their apartment. She still didn’t know whether it was a sign of protest or eagerness to help, but she’d taken on a job then and for the first six months made sure all the grocery shopping and drink rounds were on her. Eventually, Bow had talked her out of it, but it certainly hadn’t been easy.

Luckily for Adora, the conversation had turned away from her to Bow as he talked on and asked Angella for advice on some of the kids he was looking after. It ended up being a fun dinner that left Adora with barely any immediate feelings of guilt. She decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, though she did love horses, and go with the flow for the evening. They had a couple of drinks at Glimmer’s insistence, knowing that her mum would pay, but more than two was a bridge too far for Adora. She’d get drunk at DT’s no -well- trouble off her own cash.

Most of their friends had been waiting for them at their usual booth when they did finally get there. Scorpia came in a bit after them, apologising about their friend not being able to make it, much to Perfuma’s apparent chagrin.

Seahawk tried to get them to go along with his karaoke, but Double Trouble had pointedly made it clear they preferred to have more patrons, including people who didn’t want to hear the same three shanties all night. He did get one song in with Mermista, though she seemed embarrassed to admit it. Adora didn’t really pay attention to it all. For tonight, she was just taking it slow. For tonight, she would just appreciate the fact that she was with friends and that she was undertaking something important to her. Everything else, for now, could just be forgotten. She had a vague idea of a schedule in her head for the weekend (which was still more of a schedule than most of her friends made combined) and was happy to go along with that. Tomorrow, a Saturday, she’d go back to the house and see if she could maybe start fixing the roof. After that, she could probably start cleaning the place and work on her uni assignments without too much extra stress.

She felt strangely good about her choices. When she eventually found her way back to her bed but before she passed out, just the barest feeling of contentment flickered in her stomach. It was a nice change of pace, she wondered if it would last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who needs proofreading anyway??? 
> 
> (It's me, but that won't stop me)


	3. Moons and Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your kind comments, 1CrazyRadiacl1 and Galaxies_s2 !

Adora woke up feeling as if two trains collided in her skull. It took her nearly twenty minutes to properly open her eyes and check her phone. There were a few messages from people saying they were home (at five in the morning) but nothing after that. Everyone would probably still be asleep, but sleeping in had never really been her thing. The fact that she had slept until ten was already something remarkable.

Deciding that she was properly awake anyway now, she slowly sat upright and started focusing on her breathing. She noticed she had to pee so when she felt strong enough to stand without keeling over, she quickly went to the bathroom. She came back with a glass of water and got back into her breathing pattern. Most of her abilities came quite natural to her, but healing required a lot more focus. She also didn’t really like using it as it forced her to be very aware of herself, but she wasn’t going to walk around with that kind of headache.

When she finished, she went ahead and got a shower and some breakfast. Before, she would have followed that up with a run or a different kind of workout, but now she just went out for a coffee at the café on the corner. She got one extra, figuring Bow would be up by the time she got back. Glimmer tended to hibernate into the afternoon, so there was no point in wasting the sugar bomb she called coffee. She liked sweet coffees and teas herself, but Glimmer took it to another level. Even just smelling her concoctions almost made her teeth fall out.

Bow had just made some breakfast when Adora returned. “You’re a lifesaver,” he said as he accepted the drink.

“Busy day ahead?” Adora asked, nodding at their kitchen table, which was covered in files and papers all around Bow’s laptop.

“Little bit, I want to get ahead on some work before next week. Spineralla hinted it would be busy as there’s a bunch of important tests coming up. What about you?”

“I’m going back to the house. I figured I’d start taking out furniture, seeing if I can salvage anything and bring the rest to a recycling point,” Adora said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. That she wanted to repair her old home didn’t necessarily mean she knew how to go about it exactly. She was handy though, she was sure she could figure it out.

“You think that will fit in Swift Wind?” Bow asked.

She frowned. He was right, Swifty wasn’t the biggest vehicle. “I’ll make it work,” she just said, there wasn’t much else to do.

“You could borrow Seahawk’s car? You’d probably treat it better than he does,” he said with a small smile. He was probably correct there, Seahawk was terrifyingly efficient in wrecking cars.

“I don’t know,” Adora hesitated. The whole point of her doing this on her own was so she wouldn’t be a burden to anyone. Borrowing cars didn’t really jam well with that.

“Or! Perfuma mentioned last night that she had to do some deliveries today. If you offer to do it for her, I’m sure she’ll let you borrow her pickup! She’ll be happy about it too since those tequila shots seemed to be a bit much for her last night,” Bow said when he saw her expression.

He was much too clever for his own good. If she was doing favours in return for a favour, she couldn’t quite accept it as a charity. “I’ll text her to see if she’s up,” Adora said, swallowing away a sigh. She didn’t want him to think she wasn’t grateful for his help.

Turns out, as Bow had predicted, Perfuma was all too happy to not have to get up and drive today. So by a little after twelve Adora showed up at her place. Perfuma just gave her the keys and the addresses of her errands along with several groaned thanks.

“Really Adora, you are a lifesaver,” she said, slowly rubbing her temples. “The vibes are not… vibing today.”

“No worries, thanks for letting me borrow it. I should be back by five at the latest.”

Perfuma just gestured vaguely towards her. “No need to rush. I’m just going to take a bath I think,” she muttered. If Adora had been better at her healing, she’d have helped her, but she didn’t want to screw it up and hurt her more. Wouldn’t have been the first time.

The deliveries barely took her half an hour, Brightmoon was a relatively small town after all, but Adora still got the impression she got the better end of the deal. _I’ll at least make sure the tank is full,_ she decided after handing off the last flower packet to an old lady by the edge of town. It was practically already on the way.

Driving back to Crystal Lane didn’t feel as weird as it had yesterday, but she wasn’t sure if the weird mixture of bitterness and nostalgia would ever go away. Perfuma’s car was a bit of a distraction though, as she kept a lot of weird knickknacks around and no matter how long she kept the windows open, a distinct weed smell remained.

When she arrived, she didn’t immediately get out. She just took a moment to look at the house and the surrounding woods. As a kid, she’d always found the distance she had to cycle to school or town in general super annoying, but there had also been plenty of places to play and work out. Mara had never wanted her to venture too far, but she still got very familiar with the place. Especially when Razz came to visit and they’d go out to collect berries and the like for her famous pies. She told herself to remember that. _When I finish this, maybe Razz will want to come visit again._ She was pretty sure she hadn’t been around this part of the woods in forever.

“Okay Adora, deep breaths,” she said as she looked in the mirror. “Time to do some work.

***

Catra woke up slightly disorientated, as often happened during the peak of the moon cycle. It wasn’t as bad as people said, most people just transformed in whatever for a night or two and would either sleep it off or go into the woods to get rid of their excess energy. Were folk only tended to be dangerous during their first transformation, since this usually happened in the middle of puberty and left them super disorientated it. Usually, an elder relative would be there to take care of them. Usually.

She tended to use her excess energy to get some drawing or painting done rather than going out into the woods and do some backflips or whatever. She only went outside if she got very hungry, but even then she more often than not decided to just eat later. She didn’t like to hunt very much, so if she could avoid it, she would.

She climbed out of bed to grab her phone and check the time. 10:22, too late to justify going back to bed. She let out a yawn and checked her texts and socials. Whatever Perfuma’s thing had been, it had done well it seemed, judging by the number of people she’d tagged in her posts. Scorpia had only drunkenly texted her three times to send virtual hugs. She’d also said some other stuff, but Catra couldn’t decipher the typos. She would never admit it, but she was happy Scorpia cared enough to check up on her even when she was plastered.

 **Catra:** Hey I’m awake

 **Catra:** idk what you were trying to say there but good that you had fun

 **Catra:** I’m going to spend today here but I think I’ll be home for dinner

She left her phone on the desk, Scorpia was unlikely to be awake yet so she didn’t expect an immediate response. Best to leave her phone then, or she’d keep checking it and just make herself feel bad. She took a bottle downstairs to the kitchen to get some water. There wasn’t any hot water in the house, but the tap still worked just fine.

Hydrated, rested, and in something of an alright mood, Catra opened her sketchbook and just started drawing. She didn’t have any important assignments, for the time being, so she could just doodle and relax. Her headphones were always a bit of a struggle to fit on her cat ears, but she liked to have some music on and her the sound quality on her phone was honestly criminal. _And not in the hot way._

Scorpia texted her back around noon, but she was obviously a bit too hungover to keep a conversation going, so Catra went back to drawing. Just for fun, she was drawing a massive warrior lady with a glowing sword. It was a little silly, but hey who didn’t love a girl with a sword. After a good two hours of drawing, she noticed feeling a little drowsy again. She’d slept a lot longer than she usually would have, so she should not have been tired, but she was also a cat. That was reason enough in and of itself to nap. So she crawled up in a ball, music and all, and went back to sleep.

***

Adora was making good progress on clearing out the ground floor. True, this was in part because a lot of it was rotting away or otherwise hideous, but it was good to be doing something with visible effects. She knew she had to replace the floor, find a way to remove the pieces that were too big to carry out on her own, fix the roof, and even more things on an ever-expanding to-do list. It would have been daunting, but Adora liked the challenge. Glimmer sometimes complained that she was a bit bull-headed which had unbeknownst to her, reminded her of Mara. Though she’d been a bit nicer about it. _“Look Dor sometimes you’re just a bit on a one-track mind,”_ she used to say often. _“Asking for help and different perspectives is fine!”_ And Adora knew it was, she’d done her best to take Mara’s words to heart.

Even when she’d died.

She’d listened to grief counsellors, to her friends, to Angella and Micah, but it hadn’t really offered a solution to her. If anything, being of a one-track mind was helping her now. It meant she could focus on what would actually help her without distractions. That wasn’t to say that the people she cared about were just distractions of course. But her emotions? They just kept getting in the way.

After a pretty long while, Adora wasn’t checking the time, she concluded that most of the ground floor she could immediately take care off was finished. She’d have to find some actual equipment somewhere. She could use Mara’s savings for that, she was going to have to tap into those at some point anyway, but she also knew that had been meant to pay her university tuitions and rent.

Rent wasn’t much of a worry though. Bow’s and Glimmer’s parents had insisted she accept their help in making rent due for their apartment. It did wrangle Adora that she was living off of charity, and she had tried to compensate it at first by getting a job and insisting she’d pay for everything any of them needed. That hadn’t worked for long, and she’d gotten a stern talking to by basically everyone in her immediate circle for it. Her stubbornness had only run out after she’d overheard Glimmer being hysterical with worry. The calculation had seemed obvious then, accepting financial aid would be the lesser of two burdens for her friend. So, she had given in. It was one of the few areas where she had been willing to give, and only because she hated money anyway. On the house she would not move, she’d made that clear to everyone.

She went to Mara’s and Hope’s old room first again. Knowing the mess her room had been but also that there appeared to be more of her old belongings there, Adora didn’t want to head into it immediately. The fact that Hope had sold or stored so many valuables to them before she died, but had left Adora’s room untouched, seemed significant. Whether it was because she couldn’t bear to remove anything or because she didn’t care enough, she didn’t know. Their relationship had been strained near the end.

Something in Hope’s old bedroom gave her pause though. As she moved the old nightstand (which was in pretty good shape) she noticed something tucked behind a loose floorboard. It took some work getting free, but when she finally pulled it out she was surprised to see it was an old picture. It was slightly yellowed, but the image was still clear. It was a picture of Hope, Mara and Adora. On the back, in Hope’s handwriting, it said: “Our little She-Ra <3”

Adora only realised she was crying when it started raining outside.

***

Catra woke up to _something._ She couldn’t tell what, a sound or smell, but she was completely awake the moment she’d sensed it. She considered it a moment longer, too surprised to really consider the implications, before coming to the only logical realisation. Someone was inside. It shouldn’t surprise her. It shouldn’t cause her manes to bristle or her claws to come out. It was an abandoned building, and by the sounds of it -it was raining outside. Someone probably came in for shelter, it was nothing to worry about. Strange her weather app or Scorpia hadn’t warned her of a storm though.

Only, this had never happened before. In all her years here, she had neither seen nor smelled another person entering. The only person to even come near was Scorpia. It felt like someone had invaded something personal to her, like she was naked before a bunch of strangers. She had made this place hers, and now it was being invaded. She couldn’t decide whether she would fight or flee at that, or even hide. Despite her sleeping and headphones, nobody had disturbed her. Good chance they didn’t want to enter this room and confront her any more than she wished to be confronted.

Yet, Catra was a proud woman. She knew it, Scorpia and Entrapta knew it. Hell, half of Brightmoon would know it. Something had invaded her safe space? No, she couldn’t have that.

As deftly as she could, as her cat form would allow, she snuck out of the room and just listened in the hallway. _There,_ she heard something of a ragged breath coming from the larger bedroom. It was barely audible over the heavy rain, but it was definitely there. She nearly crawled into the room, towards a bedstand on the left side of the bed. She clearly saw a person’s shape there, huddle between the bed and a nightstand they’d moved.

They took in another ragged deep breath, they had been crying, but then paused. She turned around and made eye contact with Catra. There was a moment of silence at both their shock. _Adora Grey??_ Catra thought with a jolt of recognition, just before Adora started screaming.


	4. Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suppose this would be angsty.

Chapter 4

She wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there, huddled in the corner of her dead sister’s ruined room, crying over a dumb old picture. She tried to stop, tried to remind herself that she had already grieved for both of them. She’d moved on, that was what this was all about after all. She had to get up, start moving again and take the old furniture to the dump. Failing that, she had to at least calm down.

She tried for a deep breath, but it turned into another sob. After another two -pathetic- attempts, she finally managed to draw in enough air. _Come on, and again,_ she told herself. She’d learned how to deal with panic attacks. Breathing and not thinking were helpful in that. She heard the heavy rainfall around her and let it drown out everything else for just a moment.

But something was wrong. She heard something else besides the rain, or she felt like she did. It was just out of her range, just a little too soft, but she could still sense it. It was like the shifting of weight, of something… moving?

She turned around and- paused. At first, she thought she saw the frame of a lean girl in the doorway, but then she saw the teeth, the claws, and she screamed. Hope had made her fight too many of those things. Instantly, the panic and misery burned away as an immediate outburst of energy coursed through her body, willing her to _act._ She moved more on instinct and muscle memory than by any intent as the power and purpose dashed through her body. She jumped to her feet and in a couple long strides made her way across the room. The creature hissed but didn’t move or defend itself. Adora didn’t take in much of her body language, but she looked surprised. When she finally realised the threat Adora presented she tried to flee, it was too late. Adora used her superior bodyweight to tackle and pin her to a wall.

She hadn’t considered what to do after that, but it wouldn’t have mattered. All thoughts were thrown aside when the cat _spoke._ “Fuck,” she creaked out. Adora looked in her eyes and to her horror saw that she was terrified. More than that, she was a person, one she even recognised.

Adora immediately dropped her and stumbled away from her. “Oh my stars I- I’m so sorry.” The energy immediately dissipated, like a candle being snuffed out. Guilt had always messed with her powers. The catgirl (werecat?) remained leaned against the wall, panting softly. She didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry, you caught me by surprise. I didn’t know there was anyone here,” Adora said in a way to explain, or maybe justify, herself. They were lucky she’d realised her mistake.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” she asked, her voice dripping with venom.

Part of her wanted to demand the same, it was her family’s house after all, but maybe this wasn’t the time for self-righteous Adora. Bow would have been proud of her levelheadedness. “This, eh, this is my place. I’m looking into fixing it up.”

Her words hung in the air for a moment as the rain outside continued to clatter against the house. “Get out,” the cat girl then said through a clenched jaw.

Adora stared blankly at her for a moment as her mind ground to a halt. “Excuse me?” she asked when the silence had stretched out for way too long a second time.

“Get. Out,” she said again, adding a growl for emphasis.

Adora wasn’t sure why she moved then, but she did. She suddenly knew she couldn’t stand being here one more moment. Couldn’t stand here to look at a random girl she almost hurt in a moment of panic. She practically flew down the stairs and ran towards Perfuma’s car and sat down behind the wheel, shaking. She hadn’t bothered to close or lock the door, and she didn’t give the place a second glance. The rain made it difficult to see the road, but she didn’t care. She had to get out. A part of her recognised that she was having a mental breakdown, one that had been interrupted in a strange way. That same part knew she shouldn’t be driving, knew she had to pull over and call someone.

She ignored it.

***

Catra hadn’t moved since Adora left. She sat on the floor, hugging her knees and her tail. She knew she’d fucked up, no surprises there. First, she scares the pants off this girl and then she yells at her? For what anyway? Most people who were interrupted during a mental breakdown by a werecat wouldn’t be the most understanding. Besides, she’d _seen_ Adora throw hands, she should have known she’d fight when surprised. She hadn’t even really hurt Catra. She’d mostly been shocked by Adora’s quick response. Her eyes had glowed bright blue and it had looked like she was fucking emitting light. Catra hadn’t felt so threatened, or straight-up shocked, in a long while. Shocked enough to the point that she didn’t know if she was going to lash out, which would have been dangerous to both of them.

She tried to tell herself that was why she’d yelled (at a girl who was clearly in distress). She had felt her animal side stir and get ready to fight, to hunt, and had been concerned for their safety. That wasn’t entirely true though, and she knew it. Whatever magic Adora had, it would have been difficult for her beast to actually harm. Not that she knew magic well by any chance, but she could sense it, taste it on the air. No, the real reason was a lot more ridiculous. It was an old fear of hers, that one day she would have to get out of some situation and she’d have to find a place where she could be alone. She’d go to the house, hoping for a safe space, but would find it occupied. Either by the old owners or by new folks, it wouldn’t matter. The people would be disgusted by her and turn her out, or worse, somehow send her back to Shadow Weaver. She’d be alone again, with nowhere to go.

It was dumb, especially nowadays. She didn’t really need this rundown old place anymore, she’d grown enough as a person to see that. She trusted her friends, knew they would always have space for her. It was comforting though, to know she had a place to run to. That was hardly an excuse for her actions of course. She could already hear Scorpia’s voice in her head, saying something about compassion and whatever, and knew that it was going to be even worse in person. The worst thing was that she was probably right. She usually was, not that Catra would admit that to her face.

With a sigh, Catra got back on her feet. She should probably text Scorpia to come pick her up soon, she would be able to control the transformation well enough now. Then she’d ask around to see if she could find Adora’s address and apologise or something. She hated that, but for the sake of personal growth or some shit, it had to be done. That, or to just not be the Worst Person in Brightmoon.

Before she left the room, her eye caught something besides the remains of the bed, right where Adora had been sitting. Figuring returning something could be a good way of apologising, Catra walked over and found… an old picture? A family picture of Adora and two other women. Suddenly, it clicked for her. The abandoned house, the fact that someone as young as Adora owned it, the crying. “Woah, I’m a fucking arsehole,” she said, almost impressed with herself. _I’m giving Shadow Weaver a run for her money._

***

She told herself it was fine, that it was normal to be upset about dead loved ones. Grief could take a long time, there was nothing wrong with that. She wasn’t at all upset about what she had been ready to do to that girl. She was not at all terrified that after all these years her strength still urged her to hurt others, to act immediately, to see everything as a fight or flight response. She wasn’t going to think about how Hope had died or how she’d destroyed Hope and Mara’s relation. Instead, she was going to ignore the speed limit during a downpour and rush to the dump.

She ignored it all and started unloading the old furniture she’d cleaned away. She ignored the rain too. She would have just driven home or to the gym, but even in her current state she recognised that Perfuma would need her car back and not have it stuffed with old broken furniture. So she toiled in the rain, getting completely drenched long before she was done. She could barely feel her hands and realised she was shaking from the cold, but she ignored that too. She kept working, forcing her mind to focus on the menial work and the discomforts of her body over everything else until everything was gone.

When she drove into Brightmoon proper, she forced herself to stick to the speed limit and drive to Perfuma’s like something of a normal human being. She was wondering if she should just push the car key through the letterbox and send a text afterwards, but she never got the chance. When she approached the door, it swung open to reveal Perfuma. She was looking a lot better than earlier, some part of Adora’s brain still noted. Baths did do wonders sometimes.

“Adora! This really isn’t the best weather to be driving in! You really didn’t have to rush,” she started to say but stopped when she looked her properly in the eyes and realised the state she was in. Shivering, hair undone, wet to the bone and eyes red from crying, Adora suddenly realised she had to be looking terrible. She found it difficult to care. She tried to apologise though, it was the only thing she knew how to do, but Perfuma talked over her. “Scorpia, could you set us some tea?” Perfuma called back into the house in a soft but determined tone.

Before Adora could protest or even move, Perfuma’s hands were on her shoulders and she got dragged into the house with a purposefulness that could rival Glimmer’s. She softly gave Scorpia a couple of orders to text Bow and Glimmer while she forced Adora into the bathroom with a towel and some of Scorpia’s clothes and told to dry herself. Ten minutes later, she was on the couch with a cup of tea, a sweater of Scorpia and a pile of blankets on top of her as they waited for Bow and Glimmer.

They arrived with Glimmer’s characteristic energy, demanding to know if she was okay and what happened from poor Scorpia and Perfuma. Funnily enough, it did make her feel better that Glimmer wore her heart (and her worries) on her sleeve like that. She couldn’t make out the words, but she could tell Bow was convincing her to calm down and maybe ask her themselves.

It still took them another minute or so before Glimmer was calm enough. Adora was just quietly sipping her tea in Scorpia’s oversized hoodie. She gave them a weary smile and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could Bow and Glimmer had her wrapped in a group hug.

“Hey, what happened?” Bow asked quietly as they both set down on either side of her. Perfuma and Scorpia quickly came in with more tea. They hovered about awkwardly for a moment, unsure if Adora minded having them around, but they sat down at a nod from Glimmer.

“Most of the day was fine really! I’m sorry for worrying y-” Adora started, but Glimmer interrupted her with a sharp “Adora!”

“We’re here for you, remember? You don’t have to feel sorry about worrying us,” she said as she took Adora’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “So no apologies, just walk us through it.”

Adora took a deep breath and stopped herself from apologising for apologising in the first place. “Most of it was fine. I was able to move most of the stuff out of the living room. Taps still work, so that’s helpful. I made a lot of progress so I figured, hey why not get a start on the upstairs area? So I- I went to their bedroom.” She laughed. “Not a lot left of it, you know? Mara took most with her when she left and after Hope died. But she hadn’t checked everywhere because… remember when we went to that park near Thaymore, with all the horses? I found a picture of that, with me and them.” She reached for her clothes, before realising she’d probably dropped the picture during the scuffle.

“It just hit different,” she said after a deep breath to prevent herself from sobbing any further. Bow and Glimmer both gave her a sympathetic glance but didn’t interrupt. “So I was having something of an attack and during that,” she hesitated. She hadn’t told them there had been signs of recent occupation when she investigated the place yesterday. _How dumb am I that I didn’t put that together? I even noticed the cat hair!_ “Well, there was someone else there. A girl, I think a werecat? Maybe? Someone who’d been sheltering there at least. I don’t think she meant to sneak up on me but I- I freaked out and I almost hurt her,” she said between shuddering breaths. “So, she got angry, which makes sense because I almost,” her voice trailed off. She explained how she’d gotten so wet and gave them a rough idea of the thoughts that had distressed her so much. Everyone just listened and occasionally gave her an encouraging shoulder pat or squeeze, though she noticed Scorpia and Perfuma share a meaningful look at some point.

She was too tired to investigate that now though. When she finished talking she gave everyone a pleading look. She knew they probably wanted to talk it through and maybe give her suggestion and dissuade her from fixing the house, but she didn’t want to have to think about any of that now.

“Thank you for sharing that Adora,” Bow said with a gentle smile. “Do you just want to go home? We can order some pizzas and put on a bad film,” he offered. She knew it shouldn’t surprise her by now, but Bow did have great intuition for these kinds of things.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” she said with a weary smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for the kind comments! I apologise for the late update, uni has been kicking my arse but there we go. Again, I did not edit this enough :P


End file.
